Participants to Lexington Town Meeting
Town Meeting Members
Lexington is divided into nine precincts, each of which elects a total of 21 Town Meeting Members for terms of three years. One-third of the members are elected each year. In addition to these 189 elected members, there are Members-at-Large. These are: Moderator, Town Clerk, all five Selectmen, the chair of the Appropriation Committee, the chair of the School Committee, and the Revenue Officer, Town Counsel and any member of the State Legislature living in the Town.
Customarily, the Town Clerk and Town Counsel have abstained from voting, limiting their roles to recording and providing information. The Moderator has ordinarily, but not always, abstained from debating and voting.
Town Moderator
The Town Moderator is elected by the voters each March for a one-year term and presides over the business and conduct of Town Meeting. The Moderator calls the meeting to order, determines the presence of a quorum, and announces the results of all voting. The Moderator has complete authority to enforce all rules, procedures, and regulations, and to maintain decorum at the meeting. The Moderator appoints the members of the Appropriation Committee, the Capital Expenditures Committee, the Cary Lecture Series Committee, and Lexington's representative on the Minuteman Regional School Committee and may be authorized to appoint special committees. The Moderator may seek advice on the legality of articles, motions, and procedures from Town Counsel, although the final decision on procedures is the Moderator's. At the start of each Annual Town Meeting, the Moderator nominates, and Town Meeting Members elect, a Deputy Moderator who officiates if the Moderator is absent, is disqualified, wishes to speak at the meeting, or has a personal interest in the outcome of the vote on a particular article.
Town Clerk
The Town Clerk is appointed by the Town Manager. In addition to being the custodian of Town records, the Town Clerk records the proceedings of all Town Meetings and elections and notifies Town Meeting Members of Town Meetings.
The Selectmen retain a law firm to handle the Town's legal affairs. A member of the firm is designated as Lexington's Town Counsel and is officially appointed as such by the Selectmen. Town Counsel advises the Selectmen during preparation of the Warrant to ensure that articles are in proper legal form. The Counsel is available for consultation on the legality of citizens' articles. Anyone submitting an article by petition should consult this official. The Moderator usually consults Town Counsel on difficult legal questions.
Board of Selectmen
The Board of Selectmen consists of five elected members serving overlapping three-year terms. Historically, this Board serves as the Town's executive body, responsible for overall leadership and coordination of Town affairs. In Lexington today, the Board also acts as the Board of Public Works. The Selectmen make many appointments, e.g. the Board of Appeals, the Comptroller, the Town Counsel, Town Manager and the Trustees of Public Trusts. In addition, they must approve some appointments made by the Town Manager. The Selectmen set the time and place of Town Meeting, prepare and issue the Warrant, and decide the preliminary order in which articles are considered. Town Meeting, often at the suggestion of the Selectmen, can subsequently change the order of articles. The Board often predetermines its support or nonsupport of articles on the Warrant and makes recommendations at Town Meeting. The Selectmen are Town Meeting Members-at-Large.
Town Manager
The Town Manager, chief administrator of the Town, is appointed by the Selectmen for a three-year term. This official attends all Town Meetings and speaks on articles when called upon. The Town Manager prepares the municipal capital and operating budgets based on a judgment of the needs of the Town after consultation with department heads and committee chairmen and presents it to the Selectmen for their recommendations. The Selectmen's budget is then submitted to Town Meeting. With the exception of the Comptroller, the Town Manager appoints all of the heads of administrative departments within the Town, such as the Police Chief and the Fire Chief, as well as some committees, such as the Recreation and Permanent Building Committees.
Appropriation Committee
The Appropriation Committee, appointed by the Moderator, consists of nine members who serve overlapping three-year terms. The committee serves as the fiscal advisory body to Town Meeting and the Town. The committee studies and makes recommendations on all financial articles on the Warrant. The committee has authority to transfer money from the Reserve Fund to be used to meet extraordinary and unforeseen Town and school expenditures between Town Meetings. The committee considers the overall financial needs, programs, and problems of the Town.
Capital Expenditures Committee
The Capital Expenditures Committee, appointed by the Moderator, consists of five members who serve overlapping three-year terms. The committee is responsible for updating five-year projections of capital expenses. Capital expenditures, such as street improvements, sewer and water upgrades and building construction and remodeling projects are reviewed by the committee. After consultation with other Town officials and boards, the committee recommends whether a project should be undertaken and when a project should be started.
School Committee
Other committees and boards present motions and discuss specific Warrant articles that are within their purview. Of these, the most important may be the School Committee, since the school budget accounts for more than one half of the total Town budget. The committee consists of five elected members serving overlapping three-year terms. The School CommitteeÕs duties cover establishment of policy and the appointment of the Superintendent of Schools. The committee prepares the school budget, working with the Selectmen, Town Manager, and the Appropriation Committee, and holds a hearing on its budget, as required by state law. The total budget figure appears as one line in the Town Budget since the School Committee has the authority to readjust spending within the school budget as need demands.
Conservation Commission
The Conservation Commission consists of seven members appointed by the Town Manager with the Selectmen's approval for overlapping three year terms. It was established to protect and preserve the Town's natural resources and to administer the State Wetlands Protection Act which gives the commission a quasi-judicial role. The commission has the power to acquire land for conservation as well as enforce state and local wetland by-laws. Thus, the commission adds articles to the Warrant proposing the Town acquire, through direct purchase, easement, or gift, parcels of land for conservation and passive recreation.
Planning Board
The Planning Board consists of five elected members serving overlapping three-year terms. By state law it is responsible for planning, zoning, and subdivision control. Articles may be initiated by the Planning Board. Citizens' articles involving zoning changes are discussed by the Board, which must report on and make recommendations about them to Town Meeting. Public hearings are required for zoning articles. A two-thirds vote of the Town Meeting is required to change a zoning bylaw.
Recreation Committee
The Recreation Committee is composed of five members serving overlapping three-year terms appointed by the Town Manager with the Selectmen's approval. It plans the Town's year-round recreation program. In addition, it oversees the Pine Meadows Golf Club, which generates funds into the Recreation Enterprise Fund for maintaining the golf course and for other recreation programs. There are usually several articles on the Warrant dealing with recreation, either submitted by, or commented upon by, the Recreation Committee.
Housing Authority
The Housing Authority consists of four elected members and one member appointed by the Governor, who serve overlapping five-year terms. It is responsible for the planning, financing, construction, and administration of subsidized housing for people of low income, including the elderly.
LexHAB
LexHAB, the Lexington Housing Assistance Board, consists of seven members appointed by the selectmen for overlapping three-year terms. It provides affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families, administers the Muzzey condominium resale restrictions, and consults with other Town boards on privately developed residential developments containing affordable units.
Registered Voters
All Registered Voters of the Town may participate in the Warrant's first article, the annual Town election. During Town Meeting those citizens who are not Town Meeting Members may, with the Moderator's permission, speak about an article. Voters should discuss their views and concerns with their Town Meeting Members and other elected and appointed officials before Town Meeting. The Town Meeting Members Association usually sponsors public information meetings to discuss the Warrant articles during the weeks preceding Town Meeting. This is an opportunity for citizens to become informed about the articles.
Visitors
Visitors at Town Meeting usually fall into one of three categories: 1) interested residents, 2) technical or legal experts or consultants, and 3) non-residents who have a direct interest in one or more of the articles. Non-resident visitors who wish to speak on a particular article may do so with the Moderator's recognition and Town Meeting's permission.